Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva

A devotee asked: “You say that Sattvam is good and Rajas and Tamas are bad. Sattvam represents Vishnu, Rajas represents Brahma and Tamas represents Shiva. Does this mean that Vishnu is good where as Brahma and Shiva are bad?”

Shri Datta Swami Replied: The same word can have different meanings in the Sanskrit language. As far as the qualities are concerned, these three words stand in the above said sense. When you apply these three words in the case of the activities carried on by Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, different meanings come in to picture due to different angles of application. Rajas means the action (Rajah Karmani Bharata). Brahma is involved always in the action of creation. Creation is an activity, which is dynamic. Sattvam stands for knowledge and also maintenance of the existing status.

Vishnu is involved in the maintenance of the world and also administration, which involves sharp analytical knowledge. Tamas stands for lack of discrimination as in the sleep, which is ignorance (Tamastvajnanajam viddhi). Shiva is involved in destroying the whole creation in the end without any discrimination.

Hence, based on these meanings, the same three words are used for the three divine forms of the same unimaginable God.